0:03

Hello everyone , Welcome back to another episode

0:05

of Carry On Friends the Caribbean American

0:07

experience . I am excited

0:09

because finally , after

0:11

a year or two , she's

0:13

finally on the podcast . Helena , welcome

0:15

to Carry On Friends , how are you

0:18

? Yay ?

0:18

Thank you . Thank you , carrie-anne , for having

0:20

me . Of course , it's been a long time coming , I

0:22

know , and I just feel like the stars

0:24

have finally aligned . Yes , we've

0:27

met each other before in

0:29

person . We've even worked together

0:31

. You did my event for me

0:33

. So I feel like all those things

0:35

had to happen first for this

0:37

to happen today .

0:38

So I'm happy to be here . Yes , yes

0:40

, you're right . They had to happen because then this is going

0:42

to be a nice and vibrant conversation , so let's

0:45

let the audience in on who you are

0:47

. So why don't you tell them a little bit about who

0:49

you are , caribbean country

0:51

you represent and the work

0:53

you do .

0:55

I am Helena Faustin . Most

0:58

people know me by that Nurse Can Cook

1:00

. So when they see me out in the street it's always

1:02

that Nurse nurse can cook . So

1:04

I am a nurse that

1:07

loves to cook and

1:09

I cook Jamaican food because my

1:11

family is Jamaican . I

1:13

am British born but my parents are

1:15

Jamaican and part

1:18

of the reason why I started my blog

1:20

is to just share my

1:22

love for my culture and

1:24

my love for Jamaican food with

1:27

a huge audience .

1:39

Yes , and as we say , that nurse can cook . Yes , I mean

1:41

your start from the

1:43

beginning . What prompted

1:46

you to decide

1:49

to cook and let everybody see you cooking ? I

1:51

can tell you about me and my husband can tell

1:53

the story when he first

1:55

met me . Actually , when I meet people , I don't

1:57

want people to come in my kitchen . Do not hover over

2:00

me when I'm cooking , I agree . I

2:02

agree Still tell my way You're making me nervous

2:05

.

2:05

I feel like you don't realize how

2:07

territorial you are until

2:10

someone tries to get in your kitchen

2:12

. And

2:19

would you believe that ? My mother and I are kind of like that ? Because my mother was

2:21

the one who taught me how to cook and I took what she taught

2:23

me and expanded on that knowledge

2:26

and just turned it into

2:28

something huge . And

2:30

so now there's like this

2:32

undertone when we get in the kitchen , like

2:35

she's still like why are you doing that ? And

2:37

I'm like mom , why

2:39

are you doing that ? And she's looking at me like

2:41

, first of all , who taught

2:44

who and what are you doing

2:46

? I'm always like why is she ? And

2:48

then I'm like I'm trying to stop

2:50

myself from saying something . So I'm literally

2:52

biting my tongue and I'm like why

2:55

are you ? Because once you start to expand

2:57

on knowledge , you feel like

2:59

you gain a deeper perspective . And

3:02

then I feel like every chef kind

3:04

of feels like their way is the best way

3:07

. So , yeah

3:09

, you don't realize how territorial

3:11

you are until someone steps inside your kitchen

3:13

.

3:14

Yes . So if you're that territorial and

3:16

you're nervous for your own mother to see how

3:18

you're cooking and judging and all of

3:20

this , tell me all that's left

3:23

from your kitchen to people's Instagram

3:25

, because I'm like you

3:28

know . So just tell me how that

3:30

went from your

3:32

home to Instagram .

3:33

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that

3:36

. So I just want

3:38

to go back to

3:40

maybe around 2017

3:46

, I think I want to say 2017

3:49

. And it's

3:51

crazy because Facebook

3:54

has a way of reminding you of

3:56

the thoughts that you held when

3:58

you were in a different space . And

4:01

when you look back on it , you're

4:03

like , wow , like , did I really think that

4:05

or did I really say that ? Sometimes it's

4:07

an awesome moment to reflect . Sometimes

4:10

it's an opportunity to challenge

4:12

yourself and say , wow , I've

4:14

grown in my thinking since then . But

4:17

I want to say , like to

4:19

give perspective . A

4:22

couple weeks ago , a

4:24

Facebook memory popped up and

4:26

on the status I said do

4:29

you ever feel like God is trying to tell you

4:31

something , but you just don't know what it is ? And

4:35

I remember when I wrote that status

4:37

. I remember feeling like I

4:39

feel like there's a message for me , or I

4:41

feel like there's a greater purpose for me . I just can't

4:43

figure it out . I just

4:46

don't know how to put two and two together . And

4:48

I think at that moment I was trying to brainstorm

4:50

a business idea . The

4:52

following year , one of my

4:55

friends said you know , you're always

4:57

showing your cooking on

4:59

your Instagram . Why don't you create a

5:01

separate Instagram and

5:04

let that be a home for

5:06

all of your recipes . You can start a cooking page

5:08

and I said you know what I think I

5:10

will ? And at first , when I started

5:13

, it was just a hobby . It was just

5:15

something that I was

5:17

doing for fun . But

5:19

within a couple months , I started

5:21

realizing wait , I could really do this for real and this is something that I could

5:23

really take this for real and this is something that

5:25

I could really take seriously

5:27

. So I just started taking it seriously

5:29

and fast forward

5:32

to almost six years later

5:34

. Here I am today .

5:36

I want to go back to

5:38

that point you said when

5:41

God is trying to tell you something and

5:43

you can't quite put your finger on

5:46

it , and I think that's the

5:48

journey , but when you're in it , it just

5:50

feels very frustrating and

5:52

you're like God , please , just just give

5:54

me , just trips me the answer . Just give

5:56

me a little . You know you want it so

5:58

bad , but you know you feel

6:00

it and I don't know about you

6:03

. But sometimes you feel that multiple

6:05

times , right Like within

6:08

, like he's telling me something and I think

6:10

he's telling me something again over here . So is

6:12

it the same thing or two different things ? You

6:14

?

6:14

know , you know what I actually

6:16

feel that way today . Me too , I feel like we

6:19

always feel . I feel that way today

6:21

, I felt that way last night

6:23

. I was like in the bed

6:25

up late talking to God , and

6:27

when you have something on your heart

6:29

and you have something in your mind , you're bringing your problems

6:31

to God and you just I

6:33

feel like I'm so close to the solution

6:36

and the solution

6:38

might be right under

6:40

my nose . So can you come sit at the edge of the bed and be like all

6:42

right , boom . So this is what you got to do at the edge of the bed and

6:44

be like all right , boom . So this is what you got to

6:47

do . Like we really wanted to

6:49

just be like all right , girl , x

6:51

, y , z . But if he did

6:53

that , you'd be

6:55

removed from the beauty of the journey . You'd

6:57

miss all of the lessons and

6:59

you might fumble the blessing that he has

7:01

for you . So part

7:04

of the growth is

7:06

honoring the experience

7:08

and honoring the journey , even though

7:10

it might be tough to get through it and

7:13

sometimes we complain about our circumstances

7:16

. We find ourselves in a complaining

7:18

spirit like why can't things just be

7:20

? But I've tried to stay away

7:22

from complaining too much and

7:25

just honoring my journey . Honor

7:27

the beauty in your journey

7:29

, Honor where you are currently

7:31

so that you can learn to appreciate

7:33

the blessing that's on the other side

7:35

. I love that .

7:37

And that's why I wanted to kind of pause there , because I

7:39

know that experience , that you feel

7:41

like , as I was telling another guest , that unction

7:44

to do something and you just can't , you

7:46

know , you just can't find what you feel it . You

7:48

feel that undercurrent of something

7:50

. So in that

7:53

feeling that there's a bigger

7:55

purpose or something for you to do

7:57

, did you always know

7:59

that cooking was the thing , or did you try a

8:01

couple of things before ? The friend said do cooking

8:04

?

8:13

I want to also expand on that , because what the Facebook memories were showing

8:16

me is that I had a habit of cooking things and posting

8:18

them , and sometimes the

8:20

universe and God conspire

8:22

together to show

8:24

you something that you have a passion

8:27

about . But your subconscious is

8:29

aware that you're passionate about

8:32

it and you act on it , but it's just

8:34

a matter of bringing it from the subconscious

8:37

level to the conscious level . So

8:40

I spoke to my friends a couple

8:42

of days ago and I said you know

8:44

that one thing you keep gravitating

8:46

towards it's not

8:48

a mistake . It's not

8:50

a mistake . And I

8:53

was posting a photo

8:55

. I remember two days ago a Facebook

8:58

memory popped up and it was like some chicken

9:00

parm lasagna roll-ups , some

9:08

chicken parm lasagna roll-ups , and I had no lighting , I had no fancy of equipment , it was just

9:10

in a simple foil pan and under it I said you

9:12

know , when you finally try one

9:14

of those saved recipes from

9:17

Tip Hero ? And then

9:19

another memory had popped up and I had

9:21

posted my little roast beef . I

9:23

was so proud of this roast beef that I made

9:26

and you know , there was no fancy plating

9:28

, there was no lighting . It seems

9:30

like I guess that was

9:33

always on my spirit , I

9:35

just didn't realize it . I've

9:37

always liked to cook , but loving

9:39

to cook and sharing

9:42

it with people are two separate

9:44

aspects . So I've come

9:46

to realize ah , this is something that I

9:48

had been gravitating towards

9:51

over the years and it just finally came

9:53

to the surface .

9:55

You said that um you've been doing that

9:57

nurse can cook for like six years

9:59

now . So when was

10:01

that point

10:03

in the six year timeline , timeline where

10:06

that nurse , ken Cook , started

10:08

to blow up , and were

10:11

you feeling impatient

10:13

? Were you complaining before

10:15

the blow up ? So what was the time

10:18

from when you started to when you blow up ? Because

10:20

I think it's important to let people know

10:22

that the journey is still ongoing

10:25

, even when you identify . So , after

10:27

you identify the thing , there's another

10:29

journey , couple more laps to go

10:32

, before you start feeling

10:34

some level of accomplishment

10:36

or success when you've chosen

10:39

that thing In

10:41

the spirit of answering your question

10:44

honestly and from a space

10:46

of transparency

10:48

.

10:49

I wanted to be careful with the word

10:51

blow up , because

10:54

I feel like the word blow

10:56

up kind of insinuates that something

10:59

snapped and then

11:01

poof results

11:03

and

11:10

then poof results . And my journey has been like a slow-cooked oxtail dish Started out

11:12

building my audience day by

11:14

day , week by week

11:16

, and it continued to grow , kind

11:27

of like some planting an ackee tree . You start with the seed and

11:29

you watch it , you water it , you put the work into it , you pay attention

11:31

and slowly your tree begins to bear fruit . But you had to

11:33

put the work in first . So

11:35

it's not like when the tree bears fruit , oh

11:38

, you blew up . No , this

11:40

was a process from

11:42

the seed , the soil

11:44

, the watering , the

11:47

pruning . Every single

11:49

step was important

11:51

to what you see today . I

11:54

remember when I first hit 10,000

11:56

followers and I remember

11:59

what that feeling was like and I think it

12:01

took me . I want

12:03

to say I started the page in March

12:06

of 2018

12:09

, I think by January

12:12

of 2019 . So that's like

12:14

my math is , for eight

12:16

months , about

12:18

eight , nine months . It took me about nine

12:20

months to get to 10,000 followers

12:23

. So I wouldn't consider that

12:25

overnight . And

12:28

there was a lot of missteps

12:31

, there was a lot of pivots and

12:33

I feel like every year I've had to

12:35

pivot to accommodate the

12:38

changing landscape of social media

12:40

. So what you see

12:43

today is a result of

12:45

a lot of hard work .

12:48

And thank you because , even though

12:50

I for sure know

12:52

you didn't blow up , none of us

12:54

blew up .

12:56

It's an iceberg , Exactly to the outside

12:58

world . They're like oh , she blew up , I didn't blow up . They're like oh

13:00

, she blew up I didn't blow up .

13:02

No , you've been working on this for a minute

13:05

. I was slow cooked , yes , but

13:07

in the way that social

13:09

media and notoriety

13:12

and fame is positioned

13:14

in the world today , it feels like blow up

13:16

is the term , which is a term I use because that

13:18

captures people's attention . But

13:23

it's really the story you just told , and eight months for some people is like

13:25

oh my God , that's fast , you know , compared to others

13:28

. But everything is depending

13:30

on your topic , right that

13:32

you ?

13:32

want to talk about . Yes , it depends on your niche

13:34

, it depends on the landscape , it depends

13:37

on the challenges you

13:39

experience . I mean

13:41

, back then taking

13:43

nine months to get to 10,000

13:46

followers was

13:48

pretty reasonable , but today

13:50

you can get 10,000 followers

13:52

in like a month .

13:55

Yeah .

13:57

Okay , there are people out there who get 10,000

13:59

followers in one month or two months

14:02

, so everyone's journey

14:04

is completely different .

14:07

And I think that's important . So , going

14:09

back to another word that you said , you're

14:11

constantly pivoting , and

14:14

talk to us about the mini

14:16

pivots that you're making on

14:19

a weekly , daily , monthly basis

14:22

. That's necessary to

14:24

continue to shape your brand

14:26

and your business .

14:29

Part of my strength

14:31

as a businesswoman and a content

14:34

creator is recognizing when

14:36

I need to pit it . I

14:39

feel like sometimes it's easy

14:41

to get stuck in your tunnel vision when

14:43

you feel like what you're doing is working

14:45

, and there have been times

14:48

where I've missed the

14:50

point where I should have pivot

14:52

, and sometimes you got

14:55

your head in the sand and you figured

14:57

out this strategy that you've become so comfortable

14:59

and so used to , and then , once you realize

15:02

it's been a month , my strategy is no

15:04

longer working . All right , let me

15:06

go back to the drawing board . So

15:08

over time , I've had

15:10

to consistently figure out ways

15:13

to identify

15:15

when there's a shift in the

15:17

culture , a shift in

15:19

how people use and consume social

15:22

media , and making sure I'm at the forefront

15:24

of that and making sure that I continue

15:27

to stay relevant and that I

15:29

continue to give my audience

15:31

exactly what they're looking for , because

15:33

if you don't continue to pivot as

15:36

your business demands , you're going to get left behind

15:38

. I started

15:40

out this journey with a lot of other content

15:42

creators who kind of just was like I

15:44

don't want to do this anymore . It's like it's just not

15:47

fun anymore . And I get

15:49

it . I get it . Haven't you

15:51

ever felt like I don't want to do this

15:53

anymore . When things start to get rough

15:55

, we're just like I don't want to do this anymore , like it's just

15:57

, it's no longer fun .

15:58

Me never sign up for this Right

16:01

.

16:01

I didn't sign up for all of this . Exactly . But

16:03

you know , with every glory there's

16:11

a story . Instagram going on too extra for me right now , yes , and sometimes Instagram can

16:13

be very extra . So , like I said , the strength is

16:15

in knowing when

16:17

to pivot and also

16:20

predicting when you

16:22

are going to need to pivot .

16:24

So , if you can , or if you remember

16:26

because you've done multiple pivots can you

16:28

give me an example of a

16:30

time when you missed an

16:33

opportunity to pivot and you're like

16:35

I should have pivoted ? Was it something

16:37

that you were doing ? A particular posting

16:39

Explain that a little bit .

16:41

Oh , definitely . I can

16:43

immediately , off the top of my head

16:45

, recall two instances where

16:48

I failed to

16:50

pivot early and I don't want to say I failed

16:53

. I'm going to reframe that when I

16:55

learned a lesson , because even I'm trying to teach my

16:57

daughter stop saying you failed and

16:59

stop saying you got something wrong Because you

17:01

learned . You didn't get it wrong . You

17:03

learned something that you needed to know

17:05

. So I'll reframe that .

17:07

I had a mentor who said Carrie

17:09

Ann , you just now have new data

17:11

. That's what they said .

17:13

Yes , you have new data Exactly

17:15

, so you got to reframe it . There

17:18

was one instance where I noticed a drop

17:20

in engagement , and I always tell other content

17:22

creators a drop in engagement is

17:24

not reflective of your talent

17:27

, it's reflective of your strategy

17:29

. So sometimes people take a

17:31

drop in engagement personally and

17:33

they say no one's interested

17:35

in me anymore or I'm not

17:37

good anymore . It has nothing to

17:39

do with you , it has everything

17:42

to do with your strategy . And

17:44

if you want to be successful in social

17:46

media , you have to have a strategy

17:48

and your strategy

17:50

has to include ways to

17:52

keep your engagement really

17:55

, really high if you want to be successful

17:57

. So I remember I

18:01

had seen a drop

18:03

in engagement maybe two

18:05

years ago . I want to say , and

18:08

I was just like I guess

18:10

I was a little bit stubborn . Sometimes we get

18:12

stubborn because we become

18:14

married to our strategy , because

18:16

once we learn in it and once

18:19

we master it , it becomes like

18:21

second nature and we become

18:23

resistant to change . And

18:25

, um , I

18:27

think that what

18:30

I started to do was change

18:33

up my formula and

18:35

I said let me try this

18:37

. And it was so obvious that my audience

18:40

hated it , but I was committed

18:42

to it and I was like no , like this

18:44

. I really I

18:49

know that I am sharing

18:51

something that's from the heart , but

18:53

at the end of the day , I

18:56

have to provide content

18:58

people want to consume , so

19:01

I can't do this selfishly

19:03

. So in that moment I realized , oh

19:05

, you missed your mark . You should have

19:07

pivoted and gone back to

19:10

the drawing board , but you were a little bit too

19:12

stubborn in that

19:14

. So out of that , I've learned

19:16

not to become too

19:18

committed to any one way

19:21

of doing things , because it

19:23

stops us from the growth that we need . And

19:26

the other time I

19:28

feel like I didn't pivot fast

19:30

enough was when people

19:34

started really showing their face on camera

19:36

, and for so

19:38

long I was so comfortable being

19:40

behind the scenes and just letting

19:42

the food do all the talking . But

19:45

I really found that

19:47

people are craving connection

19:49

online , craving

19:56

connection online . I don't know what happened to our interpersonal relationships outside

19:58

of social media , but I feel like

20:00

, even more so after

20:02

the pandemic , people

20:04

come to social

20:07

media to connect . They

20:09

want to see your face , they want to see what you

20:11

look like , how

20:20

your hair is styled , they want to see what's in your kitchen , and so for a long time I was

20:22

just like I don't want to say , hiding behind the camera . I was just comfortable

20:24

with popping up after

20:27

every 10,000 followers and be like , hey

20:30

, this is the face behind . And

20:32

I realized that was not going to work , because

20:35

what happens is

20:38

you kind of lose connection with your audience

20:41

if they feel like they have no idea who's

20:43

cooking this food . And me

20:45

stepping out in front

20:47

of the camera gave

20:50

me an opportunity to have a

20:52

better connection with my audience

20:54

. So I want to say those were the two

20:57

times . And there were also times where I

21:00

did jump ahead and I recognized

21:02

the need and I was at the forefront of something

21:05

. So you know you have to take , you

21:07

know your wins and losses .

21:09

Thank you for sharing those examples and

21:12

I think in you , sharing , you

21:14

know , those specific examples

21:16

tells you that you

21:18

can't game it . You're just like

21:20

learning as you go , sometimes you're

21:23

not on time , sometimes you're

21:25

on time and sometimes you're ahead , and it

21:27

just really depends on where it is

21:29

. But , either way , just kind of just

21:32

go with it . Right ? And

21:34

I have so much of those

21:36

things that I resonate with , like you

21:39

know , social media . I mean

21:41

we have a thing , we just we

21:43

don't , we don't agree more time , but I

21:45

kind of have to you know , do what I

21:47

need to do , and I think saying

21:50

that if you're not getting

21:52

the engagement and not getting

21:55

a certain energy

21:57

is not you . I probably

21:59

needed to hear this conversation back

22:01

in September yeah

22:04

, we personalize things too much

22:06

. Yeah , back in September , particularly because

22:09

I was going through a period

22:11

where God was like I need you to enter that room and don't come out till I'm done with

22:13

. A period where God was like I need you to enter that room and don't come out till I done with you , and

22:16

that was like you know he does

22:18

, those moments where it's like over there just

22:20

don't even move . And

22:22

you saying this right now

22:24

is still even a valuable lesson , because

22:26

even after you've gone through those

22:29

, those periods of where you're like

22:31

God has talked to you , you've gotten

22:33

it , you coming back

22:35

to affirm is even

22:38

cementing the lessons that you've

22:40

learned in those seclusion periods

22:42

. Yes , most definitely , most definitely it's

22:44

very helpful , because sometimes you'll be like

22:46

well , mea do , mea do wrong , maybe

22:50

me fit quit .

22:51

Maybe I should be quitting and that too , that is the devil , you understand what I'm

22:53

saying . Let me do wrong , like maybe I should be quitting , and that too , that is the devil . You

22:55

know what ? I'm saying Let me tell you that is the devil come

22:57

to steal your joy and get you to

22:59

walk away from the blessing that God has . I

23:04

reject and rebuke the

23:06

spirit of a quitter .

23:09

Listen . I mean it was

23:11

rampant , it

23:14

was . It was to the point where I was like it's ugly , it's ugly

23:16

, it's ugly , bad , bad . They say it is a piece

23:19

of ting . So what I

23:21

was able to do and like when

23:23

the spirit moved me , say all right , here what . I

23:25

feel very tired and I feel very miserable

23:27

. So I guess our season done early , we're gonna stop . Stop the

23:29

episode here so I can take

23:32

one myself and sometimes

23:34

that's what you need to do .

23:35

Yes , sometimes you just think and I

23:38

do that too . Would you believe that I do that too

23:40

? Really , if I don't have the

23:42

vibes to do something , me

23:45

and I do it . That's how I feel

23:47

I'm not doing it . You know why ? Because

23:49

when you go forth

23:51

in your work with a spirit

23:54

of miserableness

23:56

, misery it shows

23:59

in your work , and I would rather show

24:01

up as my best self and

24:03

take the appropriate time to say you

24:05

know . I need to regroup and

24:08

sometimes we don't honor those

24:10

spaces . We have become

24:12

accustomed to hustle , hustle , hustle

24:14

. Why are you quitting ? Why are you taking

24:16

a break ? That's lazy . It's not lazy

24:19

, and we've been conditioned to feel like

24:21

we must be working all the time . There

24:23

is power in rest . Rest

24:25

is productive .

24:27

Listen , missy . I thank

24:29

you for speaking that back

24:31

to me , because it is still

24:33

a message that we continuously need

24:35

to hear that , yes , we

24:37

need to take pauses if your energy

24:39

or your spirit is not there you need

24:42

a time for rest and restoration and

24:44

those things happen . I think it's

24:46

part of the normal cycle of

24:48

creativity , because I also feel like

24:51

our creativity is like

24:53

a bank account that you spend so

24:55

much . At some point you need to replenish

24:57

it , and if we're constantly working

25:00

, if we're not going out being inspired

25:02

, we can't replenish that creativity

25:05

, and sometimes we need to just

25:07

take over yourself to replenish

25:10

that . So how do you ?

25:11

do that take ? over yourself to replenish

25:13

that . So how do you do that ? And

25:18

I love that you led into this question because I'm going to share

25:20

with you something that I hope you'll take after we end this

25:22

conversation . One of the most significant

25:24

lessons that I've learned in my journey

25:26

is planning

25:29

a break and not

25:31

waiting until you feel the spirit

25:33

of overwhelming , the spirit of

25:36

being drained . Don't wait

25:38

until you're drained and don't wait until

25:40

you're overwhelmed as a sign

25:42

to stop . So now

25:45

, when I'm creating content , I say

25:47

you feel like you're

25:49

in a very productive mood , you are going to

25:51

need a break in two weeks and

25:53

plan for that break . So you go into

25:56

your break fully rested

25:58

and in a great space of

26:00

mind , because

26:04

sometimes we take those rests and they're not really

26:06

rests . We take those rests and that's when the negative inner

26:08

voice starts to speak up and

26:11

this rest period is spent

26:13

commiserating over your journey

26:15

and saying why can't I just get it together

26:18

? And oh , my goodness , woe

26:20

is me . But you can have a more

26:22

productive rest if you schedule the

26:24

rest in and take the rest when you feel

26:26

good . Don't wait until you

26:28

feel bad as a sign

26:30

that you need to stop . I

26:33

also realize it leads you to take

26:35

shorter rest periods

26:37

. Even if you want to be productive

26:39

or

26:41

if you value productivity , you

26:44

can take a shorter rest and come back

26:46

feeling even more energized

26:48

that way , because I feel

26:50

like it takes too long to recover from

26:53

burnout . It takes too long

26:55

. Sometimes it can take weeks , sometimes

26:58

it can take months .

27:00

It does so with what happens

27:02

. So typically I don't

27:05

record episodes towards

27:07

the end of Q4

27:09

because I'm like it's the holiday

27:11

, you know . So I try to end the season by early November , cause I'm

27:13

like it's the holiday , you know . So I tried to end the season by early November

27:15

Cause I'm like it's Thanksgiving , christmas everybody

27:17

gone about their business , and so I

27:20

get to rest . So I started feeling this

27:22

in September and I was like I have

27:24

one more month to go and I was like you

27:26

cannot wait till one more month to go and end

27:28

it right now . And I said in that recording

27:31

I said , yeah , this is earlier

27:33

than normal , but it still would have gone into my

27:35

normal break anyway . But you're

27:37

right , it was just like I felt it

27:39

and I was trying to push myself to

27:41

make my normal scheduled

27:44

time off and I was just like I

27:46

can't push it till then . I have to end

27:48

it like now . Cause I was

27:50

feeling . It was like like

27:53

I feel like I was just rolling a big old truck

27:55

up my heel and I was just like I cannot

27:57

. So I was like I was done the minute . I felt

28:00

like that . It felt so light . I was

28:02

like thank you God .

28:04

Right . And you know what , sometimes when

28:06

I get to that point I take a self

28:08

inventory and I say did I miss a cue

28:10

? Like two weeks ago I

28:12

?

28:12

sure did miss that cue from the summertime

28:14

.

28:16

Right , did I miss the cue that says

28:18

, girl , you might need to slow down ? Or

28:20

I'll look at my schedule and I say , wow , this

28:22

week is pretty packed . I know I'm going

28:24

to need a rest week after that . So

28:26

sometimes it gives you a little something

28:29

to look forward to and you're like , oh , I

28:31

have a rest week planned , I'm

28:33

not going to do nothing . And I feel

28:35

like when you're a creative

28:38

and you create from the heart , it comes

28:40

in waves . There are times

28:42

where you're feeling super creative

28:44

and you have all these ideas

28:47

, you're feeling super productive , and then

28:49

you have your times where you're just like I'm

28:51

not really feeling it .

28:58

Not really feeling it right now . I know what you mean and I'm

29:00

glad we had this conversation because I'm in a productive phase and

29:02

already I know that . all right , I'm taking a break . I don't

29:04

know when this interview is going to come out . I'm taking

29:06

a break . So I'm batching all these

29:09

interviews and I'm like , okay , I

29:11

know , once I'm done with this , I'm a take

29:13

a pause , take my time out to get them released

29:15

, and then I'm a pick up again . So I am

29:17

so glad that you are sharing this . So

29:20

, all right . One of the things that I know is important

29:23

to you is your faith in God

29:25

and your relationship

29:27

with him . We've talked about that . And

29:29

um , one of the things that I know has

29:31

impacted people

29:34

because I heard someone else talk about it was the

29:36

whole Beyonce If Y'all Go Church

29:38

episode . So

29:40

we can talk about the incident

29:42

, but did

29:44

that change anything about how

29:47

you share

29:49

your faith and this idea of other

29:51

things that you do in your life ? I'm

29:53

just curious .

29:55

I am so glad you asked me this . Me and my best

29:57

friend went to dinner . We

29:59

had a conversation about it . I'm going to tell you exactly

30:02

what I said , because I'm not afraid to say it . And

30:04

I said to her that

30:07

whole situation is starting to make me

30:09

want to reframe how

30:11

I discuss my faith . And

30:14

I also said this to

30:16

my mom as well , and they both said the same

30:19

exact thing . She said you know what

30:21

? Sometimes the

30:23

devil comes disguised as

30:26

another Christian to come and harass

30:28

you and judge you . Because you know what

30:30

he knew that if he comes and harasses

30:33

you , he's going to silence you . And now

30:35

you're going to stop telling the world

30:37

about how good God has been to you

30:39

. You're going to let that

30:41

person silence you

30:43

and allow you to stop sharing

30:46

what God has done for you . Who

30:48

wins ? I guess you just made the devil happy

30:50

, because now you won't talk about God anymore

30:53

, listen . And

30:55

so I'm not going to say that

30:57

it didn't make me pause

30:59

. I did pause and

31:02

it did make me think about ways

31:04

to reframe how I talk about God

31:06

, because I feel like social

31:08

media is such I treat

31:11

it like a gunpowder

31:13

keg If you're not careful enough

31:15

, it can backfire against

31:17

you in ways you did not envision

31:21

or plan for . So there's nothing wrong

31:23

with reframing the

31:26

way you talk about something without

31:28

having to completely abandon

31:30

the idea , because whatever you talk

31:32

about is what you will attract . If

31:35

I talk about Jamaican food , I'm going to attract

31:37

Jamaicans . If I talk about plants

31:39

, I'm going to attract plant lovers

31:42

, and you are going to attract extremists

31:45

and non-extremists . And you

31:47

have to figure out a healthy way of

31:49

how to navigate that space

31:51

.

31:53

Thank you for sharing that , Because when

31:56

I heard it I had all

31:58

sorts of feelings and I said , boy , these

32:00

are the type of things that make

32:03

people think all Christian crazy and

32:05

all these other things , and I'm just like this

32:08

has nothing to . Yeah , there's extremists and

32:10

non extremists .

32:19

That's what I'll chalk it up to .

32:20

Yeah . So I'm glad that you were able to share

32:23

that and also kind of give

32:25

still give inspiration to people that they can share

32:27

, talk about their faith in God . No

32:30

, I have a very pressing question before

32:32

we wrap up . When you cook all of

32:34

that food right and

32:36

you show me how we cook , cook right is it dinner

32:38

for the night ? Is there enough left over

32:40

? Should I bring my plastic container

32:42

come , because it feels like a whole heap of

32:44

food and there's no way you , your

32:47

husband and the cheap , and then I'm gonna eat off

32:49

the food .

32:50

So I just want to know asking for myself

32:52

, not a friend myself a

32:55

lot of people say this and it

32:57

looks like a lot of food , but it's not a lot of food

32:59

. It's not a lot of food

33:02

. I made oxtail

33:04

for dinner yesterday and there's no leftovers

33:07

and

33:10

I knew I was going out with my

33:12

sister for dinner last

33:14

night so I only , literally

33:17

, I had like two little

33:20

pieces and maybe

33:22

two spoon of rice and

33:25

Greg is looking at me

33:27

like there's only , like you

33:29

know , the little MAGA pieces . I'm

33:32

still , that's it and I'm just

33:34

like what happened to

33:36

the food ? It's not a lot of

33:38

food . I know people see

33:40

a big round Dutch pot but once

33:42

I eat , greg will eat , the

33:45

kids will eat Monday . Maybe

33:47

there's leftovers the next day , just like a

33:49

normal family . It's not a lot of food . These

33:51

are normal size pots that

33:54

everybody buys HomeGoods , macy's

33:56

, wherever normal size pot of food . Sometimes

33:59

I save some for my mom , like

34:02

I have a fish in the fridge waiting for her

34:04

. I said I was going to save for her

34:06

. Sometimes , if I cook food and if there's

34:08

still leftover , I say , oh , you want some ? I made some . I baked

34:11

some fish today , like do you want one

34:13

? And she'll save it . I

34:15

made the jerk chicken and festival last

34:18

week and she was at the house helping me with the kids

34:20

while Greg was at work , and

34:22

she took some for herself and my sister

34:24

. So the food always , it

34:27

always finds its way into someone's

34:29

belly one way or the other .

34:32

Listen , I just wanted to know . I was like that's a

34:34

whole heap of food . You're sure you're not need to come

34:36

to Brooklyn to be .

34:37

Yeah , a lot of people think , oh , my good , you're cooking all

34:39

that food . It's not

34:41

a lot of food . It's

34:43

really not a lot of food .

34:45

As we say in Jamaica , we just say enka

34:48

for the food .

34:49

I don't

34:52

blame you . Oh

34:56

my goodness , oh my goodness

34:58

. I'm cracking

35:00

up because I feel like everyone is like oh

35:02

my goodness , what are you ? Going to do with all

35:04

that food . All that food

35:06

. I'm like it's not a lot

35:09

of food and Greg

35:11

, he has a big appetite

35:13

. I

35:17

feel like men have bigger appetites than we do and he will eat his

35:19

plate . Let's say , dinner is like

35:22

maybe five o'clock . By

35:24

11 o'clock I can hear the lid on the pot

35:26

opening again . I'm like Greg , really

35:28

, oh , this is the bedtime . I'm going back

35:30

for round two . Sometimes he goes back for round

35:32

two . Sometimes I pack lunch

35:35

for him to take to work , so it's not

35:37

as a lot as people think it is

35:39

. I think they see a lot of posts back

35:41

to back and they think like oh

35:43

, she's cooking like this every day .

35:45

Like no , I think that's what

35:47

it is . It seems like you're cooking every

35:49

day , but you're dripping the content , and so

35:51

it just feels like , oh my God , more food

35:53

, more food , more food , more food

35:56

yes , all

35:58

that food . All right , so

36:00

I'm going to ask some other questions that

36:03

I've heard before , but maybe people in my audience

36:05

have not . So you were

36:07

on the Food Network and you won a competition

36:10

. Talk to me a little bit about that

36:12

experience and

36:14

what you took away from

36:16

that experience .

36:19

It was a really , really wonderful experience

36:22

. Honestly , even if there were

36:24

no prize , I'd do it again

36:26

. I'd do it for free because I

36:28

just enjoyed it so much and

36:32

I learned so much about myself because , like I said before , we

36:35

spoke about this at the Samsung event

36:37

back in November and

36:39

I realized it was

36:42

like a really an indictment on

36:44

myself . And I noticed that

36:46

I have

36:49

a tendency to run from problems

36:51

because the moment they revealed

36:54

that this was not an audition

36:56

but a competition , it

36:59

elicited a fight

37:01

or flight response in me

37:03

. When I tell you , I wanted

37:05

to jump out of my skin and

37:08

run . That was my first reaction

37:10

and I said to myself what

37:13

are you going to do now when you can't run ? I said you

37:15

can't run , you just have to do

37:17

it . And sometimes we have

37:19

these big dreams in our heads

37:21

about what our end

37:23

goal for us would be or

37:26

what our wildest

37:28

dream is , but we don't realize , we're

37:30

kind of scared of those dreams and

37:33

sometimes , when you realize your dream

37:35

is coming true , it comes with

37:37

a little bit of fear . I

37:40

was happy to be there . And

37:42

then I was like I can't

37:44

lose . I'm like you

37:46

better not lose . So there was this added

37:48

pressure of not

37:51

wanting to lose , not wanting to let

37:53

my people down . I'm like I have to represent

37:55

Jamaica , like Jamaica is a country of winners

37:58

, like we're competitive , we

38:00

like to win , we like to be the best . We're

38:02

braggadocious people by

38:04

nature . I said no

38:07

way am I going to allow

38:10

that to happen . So

38:12

I felt the pressure to win

38:14

. Also , I didn't know what I was going to be

38:16

cooking . I

38:27

was like I hope they don't give me like a mushroom beef , wellington or something with some ingredients

38:29

that I've never heard before , and I

38:31

hope that it's going to be something I

38:34

could finesse . And then I

38:36

said what kind of seasonings

38:38

do they even have ?

38:41

All the important questions .

38:43

All the important questions , but you know what

38:45

? They were so good to me and

38:48

they prepped me . I

38:50

didn't realize they were prepping me , because

38:52

we were in talks for a lot of weeks and

38:54

what they were actually doing was prepping

38:57

me for the show . I just didn't realize it , and

38:59

that's kind of like how God works too . Sometimes he's

39:01

prepping you for the blessing that he has . So

39:04

I felt completely comfortable when they

39:06

revealed what the secret ingredient was

39:08

and I was like , ah , this

39:10

is what they've been prepping me for

39:12

. So although they kind

39:14

of sprang this competition element on

39:16

me , it didn't necessarily feel like

39:18

I was like a fish out of water

39:21

and I can't wait to do it

39:23

again . If the opportunity ever presents

39:25

itself , I would definitely do it again .

39:28

Wonderful . So what is

39:31

next for you

39:33

? What do you have coming up on the horizon , as much

39:35

as you can talk about it , because I know there are always things that

39:37

are in the works . What are you looking

39:39

forward to in the next couple weeks , couple

39:41

months ?

39:41

For 2024

39:44

, I see myself really hankering

39:46

down on the business aspect . I

39:49

feel like for the past

39:52

couple of years I've been

39:54

so much of a creative

39:56

and like the money and the finances

39:58

were something that were a

40:00

result of my creativity

40:02

. But this year I

40:05

plan on really focusing

40:07

more on a business model

40:10

. So that would

40:12

look like products , it

40:14

would look like classes , it would look

40:16

like whatever's on my heart to

40:18

put an offering , just so that I could make

40:21

my footprint even more deeper in

40:23

the hearts and minds of the people that support

40:25

me . So I look forward

40:27

to that journey today , tomorrow

40:30

and for the months to come . So that's where

40:32

I see myself right now is

40:34

really really , really

40:36

honing in on the business

40:38

aspect of running this empire

40:41

.

40:42

I think that is a very

40:45

smart decision and

40:47

I think it's important to

40:49

extend the brand as

40:51

much as you can to incorporate people into

40:54

the experience , and so I

40:57

think that's a fabulous

40:59

idea . You do catering . Is that something

41:01

or no ? Or like , what's

41:04

that ?

41:04

I get this question . I want to say besides

41:06

, how do you balance it all ? The next

41:09

question is do you cater

41:11

? And I'm not going to shoot myself

41:13

in the foot because I don't ever . I never

41:16

say never to anything because you

41:18

have no idea where your journey

41:20

is going to take you . But

41:22

a lot of people don't know this about me

41:25

I do not particularly

41:27

enjoy cooking in large quantities

41:30

.

41:32

Well cooking is a very different

41:34

beast . It's a completely

41:36

different skill .

41:38

Just because you know how to cook doesn't

41:40

mean you know how to cater . Okay , they're

41:43

two completely different skills

41:45

. Knowing how to cook a

41:47

small average pot of rice

41:50

and peas is completely different

41:52

from making a 15

41:55

quart pot

41:57

of rice and peas and making sure it comes

41:59

out shelly . You see those people on Instagram

42:01

where they have the paddle that

42:03

oblong paddle and

42:05

they're digging up the curry goat and they're

42:07

digging up the rice and peas and it wells

42:10

shelly . That is a skill

42:12

that not everyone has . Okay

42:14

, and I don't mind

42:16

cooking for parties , like when we host at

42:19

the house . I will cook

42:21

for parties . I will cook for like we'll

42:23

have an event , we'll have 10 , 15

42:25

friends over . I'm

42:28

always overwhelmed . I go in

42:30

with like a lot

42:32

of vibrance and excitement

42:34

. Halfway through I'm just like when

42:37

is this going to be over ? Like just

42:39

when is it going to be over ? But also

42:41

, um , a part of that

42:44

is realizing your limitations and

42:46

sometimes you need to say hey , maybe

42:48

this would be a more enjoyable experience

42:50

if I had help instead of trying to do

42:52

it yourself . So I

42:56

never say never , but I'm

42:58

just letting you know I don't like cooking

43:00

in large quantities .

43:02

So it's my turn to share something

43:04

, what my friends would share with me . So I have

43:06

a friend , a childhood friend

43:08

, and she was she

43:10

. She always say to me you know

43:12

, carrie , you're such a creative , you have vision , but I

43:14

don't sew like like you , I can't make dress like

43:16

you , and she's like you don't have to do

43:19

those things to have the vision or

43:21

the creativity to do this thing . And

43:24

so you just said it right , you

43:26

can easily plan a menu or a rest

43:28

, you know something , but find somebody who know

43:30

how to cook big pots and shelly rice

43:32

and all that stuff and let them

43:34

do that .

43:36

And then you're like ah , my dreams

43:38

have been actualized , it's all

43:40

here and I get to enjoy it

43:42

without being overwhelmed , right

43:45

, so you know , your strength

43:47

is in understanding what your limitations

43:49

are as well , and that's okay

43:52

.

43:52

Wonderful . So why don't you tell the community

43:54

of friends where they could find you ? I

43:57

did share your recipe book

43:59

in as a list of recipe books

44:01

that they should definitely check

44:03

out . I'll share that again , but tell them

44:06

where they could check you out , where

44:08

they could follow you and all the things that

44:10

you have going on , sure .

44:12

You can find me at that Nurse Can

44:14

Cook on all platforms . I'm on

44:16

TikTok , I'm on Instagram

44:18

. I have a Facebook page I think

44:20

it's called the cooking nurse

44:22

, cause I think that domain was taken . I

44:26

had to . That's a whole nother story

44:28

for a whole nother podcast . My

44:30

original Facebook page

44:32

was actually hacked . That's

44:34

another important to tell your audience

44:37

make sure you protect your

44:39

platform . The two-factor

44:41

authentications , all that stuff

44:44

. Make sure you protect your stuff . So

44:46

that's a whole nother discussion

44:48

. But you can find me on Facebook the

44:50

Cooking Nurse , instagram that Nurse

44:52

Can Cook . I have a website , thatnursecookscom

44:57

, and there's a bunch of free recipes

44:59

and free resources for you to enjoy . And

45:02

I also have two e-books . One

45:05

is called Dinner in 30 , and it has

45:07

15 recipes that you can cook in 30

45:09

minutes , because who doesn't love a meal

45:11

that's ready in 30 minutes ? And

45:13

then I have another cookbook that's called Iry

45:15

Delights and it has some of my premium

45:17

recipes in there , like barbie fried chicken

45:20

. I have Henny jerk wings in

45:22

there and the

45:24

people have been loving it so far . It's

45:26

actually on sale right now , too , for 30%

45:29

off on

45:38

the podcast .

45:38

I'm glad that we had to have this conversation and I'm so excited . Thank you for having

45:40

me . Yes , yes , yes and , as I love to say at the end of every episode

45:42

walk good , thank you .

45:45

My grandmother used to say that to me all

45:47

the time . Yes , it's all

45:49

people saying that's walk good , all

45:51

right , take care you too .